Tribes and Bands of Maine

The following list of American Indians who have lived in Maine has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians...[1] and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America[2]. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.

Abnaki (Abnaki, Wabanaki) Abnaki Confederacy: there were and estimated 25,000 Abnakis at the time of the Puritan settlement.

The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes: A Resource book about Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac and Abenaki Indians. By American Friends Service Committee. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: c 1989 FHL book 970.3 Ab71wWorldCat

Minor or Historical Tribes or Tribes with Minimal Connection to Maine

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Records

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:

Penobscot Nation Tribal Committee, Census of the Penobscot tribe of Indians: as compiled by the tribal committee on February 11, 1971, at Indian Island, Maine (Indian Island, Maine:[s.n.], 1971) FHL book 970.3 P386p

American Friends Service Committee, The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes: a resource book about Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac and Abenaki Indians (Philadelphi, Pennsylvania: American Friends Service Committe, c1989) {{WorldCat| FHL book 970.3 Ab71w

Leger, Sister Mary Celeste, The Catholic Indian missions in Maine, 1611-1820: a dissertation submitted to the faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Washington (DC): Catholic University of America, 1929) FHL book 970.1 L524c

Other Repositories

Reservations

From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

For a current reservation map - Maine - Indian Reservations - The National Atlas of the United States of America. Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America[3], the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America[4], and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.

See Also:

References

↑Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.

↑Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.

↑National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.

↑Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.

Bibliography

American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. Washington DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, National Archives and Records Administration, 1998.

Gilbert, William Harlen, Jr. Surviving Indian Groups in the Eastern United States. Pp. 407-438 of the Smithsonian Report for 1948. Available online.

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.

Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.

National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Services. Available online

Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.